About me

Quick Snapshot

Hey, I’m Drew — a CSOC Manager, based in London, UK. I work as the CSOC manager for Fastly in the EMEA region. My job is to allow the EMEA team successfully handle customer attack tickets and security support questions. My background spans DBA & Sysadmin, NOC work and Bot management which allows me to see issues in a holistic manner.

Outside of work, I’m into reading, creative hobbies such as playing guitar, drawing and photography. Also love playing Table-top board games, latest favourite is Wingspan, as well as RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons & Call of Cthulhu.

Career Journey

After university, I got my start as a DataBase Administrator looking after SQL 6.5 databases on Windows NT. After 5 years, I moved companies and worked in a DBA and SysAdmin for 5 years, during this time getting more and more interested in Security. I moved to a Bot management company, first in the support team helping customers block unwanted traffic then in the NOC helping manage systems and traffic around the network. Finally, I wanted to work for a larger company so moved to work within the CDN space still specialising in security.

Since joining Fastly in 2022, I’ve worked in the CSOC team, first as a Senior Analyst helping customers mitigate attacks, and since April 2024 as the EMEA team manager.

Who I Am

• 📚 Lifelong bookworm - mostly sci-fi and fantasy + autobiographies
• 🧠 Self-taught developer
• 🎮 Occasional gamer, just on consoles these days
• 🌇 UK-based: Living in the city, dreaming of the countryside
• 💡 Constantly iterating to improve my own systems — from note-taking to workouts